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NOAA Fisheries: Commercial Closure for Yellowtail Snapper in South Atlantic Federal Waters on June 5, 2018

May 31, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of yellowtail snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, June 5, 2018. During the commercial closure, all sale or purchase of yellowtail snapper is prohibited, and harvest or possession of yellowtail snapper in or from federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits while the recreational fishery is open.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

The August 2017 through July 2018 commercial catch limit is 1,596,510 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial catch limit and harvest should close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

AFTER THE CLOSURE:

The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial permit for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper.
The August 2018 through July 2019 yellowtail snapper season in the South Atlantic will open on August 1, 2018, with a 1,596,510 pounds whole weight catch limit.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register.

Liz Mitchell: In defense of observers

May 30, 2018 — I was shocked that NF would publish such an inflammatory opinion piece as the recent editorial, “A hard look at NOAA’s observer program” (Dock Talk, NF March ’18, p. 7). This kind of rhetoric only serves to divide. Observers have always unfairly been the brunt of frustrations that fishermen experience between their own self-interests and that of the National Marine Fisheries Service management.

Like it or not, these are public resources, and NMFS has a responsibility to manage these resources not just for the benefit of current fishermen, but also for future generations. The agency faces the difficult and challenging task of balancing these interests. There are numerous factors that influence how NMFS balances these interests, but observers should not become a political scapegoat when fishermen become angry with a management decision. Observers provide a critical role in collecting independent, third party data for use in stock assessments. The very reason observers came to be was to provide independent and objective data because fishermen could not be trusted to look beyond their own self-interest. Observers provide unbiased data, but it is not up to them how the agency or public uses this data. I would like to respond to several erroneous statements and mischaracterizations in this article:

Observers shouldn’t have to degrade themselves by “looking for a ride.” There are many ways NMFS could support the professionalism of observers. Observers shouldn’t have to “look for a ride.” They should be randomly assigned and, yes, if you refuse, you should definitely be fined or not allowed to fish. How a vessel is chosen should not fall on the observer. For an observer to have to walk the docks at 4 in the morning is dangerous, degrading to the observer, full of bias and indicates a fly-by-night operation. Vessels should be notified by NMFS and the observer arrangements made between NMFS, the vessel and the observer provider.
To protect the resource, it has to be monitored continuously. The author clearly does not understand the concept of monitoring a fishery. You can’t just go out one time and apply it to future extractions. The ocean is rapidly changing, so a continual input of what is being removed and the collection of biological life history information is needed to monitor long-term population changes. It’s critical to protecting the resource.

Read the full op-ed at National Fisherman

Alaska: One month into the season, Bristol Bay halibut fishermen harvest a quarter of the quota

May 30, 2018 — Bristol Bay fishermen have landed 8,700 pounds of halibut so far. This year’s quota for area 4-E is 33,900 pounds, significantly less than last year’s quota of 58,800 pounds.

“It is a reduction,” said Gary Cline, the regional fisheries director at BBEDC. “It’s basically because there appears to be less halibut abundance in the Pacific, not just in area 4-E, but stretching down to southeast and throughout the Bering Sea. And, because of this concern, the regulatory agencies have adopted a more restrictive catch limits for 2018.”

Those regulatory agencies include the National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

The decrease in halibut could stem from a variety of factors, including fishing efforts, competition for the same prey by other species such as the Arrowtooth flounder, and water temperature.

Read the full story at KDLG

Delayed seismic testing decision puts energy industry at odds with Trump administration

May 29, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s long-awaited decision on whether to allow seismic testing for oil and gas beneath the Atlantic Ocean is causing heartburn for the the energy industry, which eagerly awaits the fulfillment of President Donald Trump’s push to allow offshore drilling in U.S. coastal waters.

Five seismic survey companies want federal permission to shoot loud, pressurized air blasts into the ocean every 10 to 12 seconds around-the-clock for months at a time over 330,000 square miles of ocean from Florida to the Delaware bay, in search of fossil fuel deposits beneath the ocean floor.

If approved, the activity would reverse an Obama-era denial of testing permits in the Atlantic Ocean and represent a major advance of Trump’s “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy.”

After the public-comment period ended in July 2017, many stakeholders expected the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to quickly approve the “incidental harassment authorizations” needed to move the permit applications forward.

But more than 10 months later, NOAA, one of two federal agencies that will decide the matter, still hasn’t approved the authorizations. The IHA would allow the seismic testing to harass or injure small numbers of marine mammals, which would otherwise be prohibited under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Read the full story at the Mclatchy DC Bureau

Could N.C. become the ‘Napa Valley of oysters?’

May 29, 2018 — MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — Steve Murphey pointed at an oyster shell resting atop the hill of granite stones.

“See, it worked,” quipped Murphey, the director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

The pile of granite Murphey was standing beside last week was one of several at the Port of Morehead City, days away from being spread across the Pamlico Sound near South River where it will become part of the Swan Island Oyster Sanctuary. The project — a joint endeavor of the N.C. Coastal Federation, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Restoration Center — is slated to reach 25 acres by the end of the summer, with as many as 15 more acres planned for next year depending on funding.

An acre of restored reef can support conservatively, a million oysters, biologists said. Some studies have recorded as many as five or six million on an acre, living on top of each other.

Oysters growing on the sanctuary cannot be harvested, giving them a chance to reproduce safely before moving on to other nearby reef sites where they can be captured.

“We’re giving them a good chunk of area to be able to stay and not be harvested and just give them time,” said Kaitlin DeAeth, a Division of Marine Fisheries biologist.

In recent years, shellfish have emerged as a topic on which environmental groups and the legislature can find common ground.

NOAA: 2019 Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Grant competition is currently open.

May 29, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is pleased to announce the 2019 Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Grant competition is currently open. This year’s solicitation consists of two separate submission processes. All interested applicants must submit a 2 page Pre-Proposal to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) posted at www.Grants.gov found here. Applicants interested in submitting a full application after the pre-proposal review process must submit the full application through www.grants.gov.

Please note that under this one Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) there are two (2) competition links. Please be sure to submit your pre-proposals to the “PRE PROPOSALS FY19 Saltonstall-Kennedy” link prior to July 23, 2018, the date specified in this NOFO. Please be sure to submit your FULL Proposals to the “FULL Proposals FY19 Saltonstall-Kennedy” link prior to November 5, 2018, the date specified in this NOFO. Be sure to read the NOFO and follow the directions closely.

The goal of the S-K program is to fund projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries, and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. The FY19 solicitation seeks applications that fall into one of three priorities:

Promotion
Development
Marketing
Marine Aquaculture
Support of Science that Maximizes Fishing Opportunities
Revenue and Jobs in U.S. Fisheries
Long-Term Sustainability of Marine Resources

For more information click here.

Oregon: Sea lions continue to eat endangered fish

May 29, 2018 — All the time, money and sacrifice to improve salmon and steelhead passage in the Willamette River won’t mean a thing unless wildlife managers can get rid of sea lions feasting on the fish at Willamette Falls.

That was the message Tuesday from Shaun Clements, senior policy adviser for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who met at the falls with Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, and Suzanne Kunse, district director for U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

The group watched as several sea lions patrolled the waterfalls and nearby fish ladders. Clements said there could be as many as 50-60 sea lions in the area on any given day in April or early May, and the animals are responsible for eating roughly 20 percent of this year’s already paltry winter steelhead run.

As of May 22, ODFW has counted just 2,086 winter steelhead at Willamette Falls. That’s less than half of the 10-year average and 22 percent of the 50-year average.

ODFW applied in October 2017 to kill sea lions from Willamette Falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, though Clements said he does not expect a decision from the National Marine Fisheries Service until the end of the year. The department also tried relocating 10 California sea lions to a beach south of Newport earlier this year, only to see the animals return in just six days.

Read the full story at the Capital Press

North Carolina commission approves shrimp trawl measures aimed to reduce bycatch

May 24, 2018 — North Carolina’s Marine Fisheries Commission has approved new rules aimed at dramatically reducing the amount of bycatch taken in by shrimpers.

The commission approved by unanimous vote, at its 17 May hearing, to mandate that shrimp trawls, where more than 90 feet of headrope is allowed, use a gear combination. Tests showed the changes reduced finfish bycatch by 40 percent.

The measure takes effect 1 July 2019. It also comes after a three-year public-private stakeholder group first gathered to begin testing methods that reduce bycatch while minimizing shrimp loss.

Chris Stewart, a shrimp biologist with the state, said the group received about USD 500,000 (EUR 426,127) in grant funding and up to USD 165,000 (EUR 140,621) in in-kind corporate contributions to conduct the studies. Funding came from such groups as the MFC Conservation Fund, the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act and NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

The bipartisan solution for saving sharks

May 24, 2018 — As a part of the generation that grew up watching “Jaws,” my wife and many others share President Trump‘s gut-level aversion to sharks. But if the conservation-themed documentaries that feed our fascination for them have taught us anything, it is that the fearsome caricature presented in the film gets these fish all wrong. Instead, they are some of the most captivating, complex and ecologically important creatures in the ocean. They also very rarely pose a danger to people.

The truth is that sharks have much more to fear from us than we from them.

Scientists and conservationists believe that trade incentives can help stop the decline, which is why we applauded when Reps. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act.

The bill would require any countries that wish to export shark, ray or skate products to the U.S. to demonstrate that they are effectively managing their fisheries, comparable to our measures for sustainability. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would certify that those products coming into the U.S. were from fisheries subject to responsible, science-based management to ensure the long-term health of shark, ray and skate populations. This approach is intended to incentivize other fishing countries to meet those standards or risk losing access to the U.S. market.

Fishermen in the U.S. are behind this idea because it levels the playing field with the rest of the world. Those who are already adhering to responsible management standards here in the U.S. should not be undercut by unsustainable catch and products coming in from overseas.

Read the full story at The Hill

Alabama anglers ready for expanded red snapper season

May 23, 2018 — Alabama’s recreational fishermen will be allowed to catch red snapper on weekends throughout the summer thanks to an experimental permit granted to the state from the federal government’s NOAA Fisheries.

Private anglers – fishermen who own boats and aren’t licensed by the state or federal government as charter boats – will be allowed to fish on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from June 1 through Sept. 3. The season will also include the entire week of July 4 and Monday, Sept. 3, Labor Day. Anglers are permitted two fish per day and the fish must be at least 16 inches in total length.

To fish for red snapper, anglers ages 16-64 must have a valid Alabama saltwater fishing license. Fishermen 65 and older and those younger than 16 are exempt from license requirements. They must sign up with the free Saltwater Angler’s Registry. It is available in the license section of www.outdooralabama.com.

The season for federally licensed charter boats runs straight through from June 1 through July 21.

Alabama Director of Marine Resources Scott Bannon explained that NOAA issues exempted permits to allow experimental programs outside the normal rules for the fishery.

Read the full story at the Alabama Newscenter